Irish headquartered IT product procurement and services company, Arkphire, has completed the rollout of a major employee-centred digital transformation programme, which is a multi-million investment by leading Irish financial institution, AIB.
At the heart of the project which aligns with AIB’s digitalisation and ways of working strategies, is the sourcing, delivery and support of a fully digital workspace for AIB employees across Ireland and the UK. The ambitious employee mobilisation programme, which gained urgency due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has enabled AIB to continue to provide an uninterrupted service to its customers, while also empowering its workforce to communicate and collaborate innovatively across the entire enterprise from their home workspaces.
The project saw Arkphire deliver 8,000 digital workspace solutions including Microsoft Surface laptops, laptop stands, monitors, docking stations and keyboards to AIB’s employees across Ireland and the UK. The laptops were configured as notebook or touch-screen-operated tablet PCs, based on the AIB employee’s preference in either country. Arkphire is also providing a range of ongoing support services to AIB including:
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Adoption Services—the ability to procure, assemble and roll out hardware pre-installed with software as specified by AIB for its employees’ specific needs and deliver it to their homes anywhere in either country;
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Break/fix support—enhancing the standard warranty provided by Microsoft to ensure timely and reliable collection and repair of equipment;
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Next business day replacement—if an employee needs a replacement computer, Arkphire can guarantee to deliver the necessary personalised solution, complete with software updates within 24 hours.
Geraldine Casey, Chief People Officer at AIB at a virtual meeting with (from left to right), Graham Fagan, Group Director of Technology & Operations at AIB Group and Bríd Graham, Managing Director of Arkphire's IT procurement services business. Arkphire has delivered the rollout of a multi-million euro employee mobilisation programme involving 8,000 employees at AIB. Pic: Julien Behal Photography
Geraldine Casey, Chief People Officer at AIB said “At AIB our aim is to empower our people so they can work from home and support our customers as seamlessly as possible. 8,000 of our people now have remote access, with state of the art technology allowing us to develop our ways of working and digitalisation strategies.”
Graham Fagan, Group Director of Technology & Operations at AIB Group said: “In overall terms, Arkphire has very quickly earned our trust through a rapidly accelerated programme, where the Arkphire team has demonstrated real professionalism and a ‘can do’ attitude that we really value. On a project of this scale, there are always challenges, but where any difficulties arose, Arkphire stepped up to the mark, bringing things back on track and always delivered. I greatly appreciate their support as a true IT partner.”
AIB is a financial services group operating predominantly in Ireland and the United Kingdom, providing a range of services to retail, business and corporate customers, with market-leading positions in key segments. The bank has over 2.8 million customers.
Given the importance of the initiative to AIB, which is adopting a new operating model to increase the flexibility of its workforce to work from anywhere, it was essential for the bank to engage with a partner of proven capability, international reach and who could move at pace. According to Fagan “The combination of Arkphire’s long-standing logistical and procurement capabilities along with their experience and track record of service delivery for projects of this scale, both domestically and internationally, were decisive factors in selecting Arkphire.”
Bríd Graham, managing director of Arkphire’s IT Procurement Services business, said, “We are delighted to be selected as the IT partner for AIB on such a transformational project. The pandemic forced us all to act quickly in unforeseen circumstances. AIB was determined to ensure it could provide an effective solution to help their employees transition to the new normal of working from home while continuing to provide uninterrupted support for their customers. We are very proud to partner with such a strong Irish heritage brand.”
Earlier this year, Arkphire became part of the Presidio Group, a leading North American IT solutions provider. The combined capabilities from both Arkphire and Presidio create a new global IT solutions business with the ability to serve customers and enable their remote working strategies in all key markets.
About Arkphire
Arkphire, a Presidio Company, is a leading IT product procurement and IT services company, serving customers internationally across more than 90 countries. Arkphire provides integrated technology solutions that span desktops, networking, cyber security, cloud and data centre, enabling the digital workspace and supporting businesses on their digital transformation journey.
Following its acquisition of Trilogy Technologies in 2020, Arkphire is now positioned as the largest and fastest growing Irish headquartered IT procurement and IT managed services business.
Article Published: 04/03/2021